BNP Paribas Decreases Stock Holdings in The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR)

BNP Paribas reduced its position in shares of The Progressive Co. (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 90.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,390 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 12,634 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas' holdings in Progressive were worth $330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter worth $1,843,045,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in Progressive by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,171,501 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,239,143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,085,833 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Progressive during the fourth quarter worth approximately $408,416,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Progressive by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,058,187 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,451,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547,677 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Progressive by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,179,529 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,480,677,000 after purchasing an additional 710,684 shares during the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, CIO Jonathan S. Bauer sold 1,227 shares of Progressive stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.00, for a total value of $344,787.00. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 28,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,978,433. The trade was a 4.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 1,542 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.66, for a total value of $435,861.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 268,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $75,759,663.84. The trade was a 0.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,894 shares of company stock worth $11,020,097 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PGR. Barclays boosted their target price on Progressive from $285.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Progressive from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Progressive from $320.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and set a $288.00 target price on shares of Progressive in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $287.41.

Progressive Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Progressive stock opened at $282.79 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $165.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The firm's 50-day moving average is $274.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $259.23. The Progressive Co. has a 1 year low of $201.34 and a 1 year high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.28 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 33.79%. As a group, research analysts expect that The Progressive Co. will post 14.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Progressive's payout ratio is currently 2.70%.

Progressive Profile

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.

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